New job figures show permanent placements continued to fall solidly in July

The KPMG and REC, UK report on Jobs showed that recruitment trends diverged in July.

Notably, permanent placements fell solidly, while temp billings expanded at the quickest rate for nearly a year. There were often reports that firms were hesitant to commit to permanent hires due to prevailing economic uncertainty as well as shortages of skilled candidates.

Pay pressures continued to build, as competition for highly-skilled workers and the rising cost of living pushed up rates of starting pay.

That said, upturns in both salaries and wages remained far below the peaks seen over the past two years. At the same time, the availability of workers rose at a sharp and accelerated rate, with a number of recruiters linking this to redundancies.

Vacancies data meanwhile showed further increases in demand for short-term and permanent staff, though upturns remained softer than their respective averages.

The KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs: Midlands is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to around 100 recruitment and employment consultancies in the Midlands.

Recruitment consultancies based in the Midlands registered a further reduction in the number of people placed into permanent jobs during July.

July survey data signalled a back-to-back increase in temp billings across the Midlands.

Permanent vacancies in the Midlands continued to rise in July, thereby extending the current run of expansion to two-and-a-half years. The rate of growth was sharp, and picked up slightly since June. Recruiters also recorded a quicker increase in temp vacancies in July, with the rate of expansion the sharpest for three months.

Overall, the Midlands saw the most pronounced upturns in demand for staff of all four monitored English regions in the latest survey period.

The availability of permanent staff across the Midlands increased for the fourth straight month in July.

Sharper increases in permanent labour supply were also recorded in the three other monitored English areas, and ones that outpaced that seen in the Midlands.

The seasonally adjusted Temporary Staff Availability Index pointed to a third successive monthly upturn in temp candidate numbers across the Midlands during July.

At the UK level, the uptick in temp labour supply remained slower than that seen in the Midlands, but was sharp overall. London recorded the most rapid increase in temp candidate numbers overall.

Midlands-based recruiters signalled a further rise in starting salaries for permanent staff at the start of the third quarter.

The increase in temp pay in the Midlands was slightly softer than that recorded across the UK as a whole. Wages rose across all four monitored English regions, with the North of England registering the fastest rate of growth.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Kate Holt (pictured), people consulting partner for KPMG in the Midlands said: “The data for July shows a split in what employers are doing when it comes to hiring across the Midlands.

“A lack of skilled candidates and the continuing economic uncertainty has resulted in a fall in permanent hires, but a rise in temporary workers. However, in good news for those seeking a permanent role the latest figures have highlighted a rise in starting salaries."